Single White Rose of Wutai
by Chimera.Cain
Summary: It has been three years after the meteor and one year after Advent Children. The group decides to have a reunion at Costa Del Sol. Cloud and Yuffie Clouffie
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy**

**This is my first Final Fantasy fan-fic so I hope you guys like it! This is the first chapter...and if you guys like it I'll probably continue it, but I think that there will only be one more chapter after this one **

**The setting is three years after the metor and one year after Advent Children. The flasback is a few weeks before the Advent Children.**

* * *

**Single White Rose of Wutai**

**Cloud and Yuffie**

Yuffie Kisaragi. The famous ninja. The single white rose of Wutai. The goddess and master of the shuriken. The girl who had a profound and outspoken love for materia. She was the in-your-face hyperactive teenager that had traveled with Cloud and the others on that fateful journey three years ago to save the planet. She was one of those who fought along side the others who had taken a stand in Edge just a year ago. Yuffie Kisargi was never a girl to hold her tongue, except when it came to one thing…or should we saw someone.

"Yuffie Kisaragi is here!" the raven haired girl announced as soon as she set foot on the deck Sherra. The announcement was followed by light laughter as most of the passangers on the famous airship turned her way. In truth she had been on the Sherra for quite a while now, although her motion sickness had gotten the better of her. She had been spending the last hour trying to keep her breakfast down. But now the Sherra, landed by the number one pilot Cid, was rested on the sandy beaches of Costa Del Sol.

It had come around to that time of year again. Ever since the meteor incident everyone who had fought in that great battle had a reunion ever year. They had changed the location for each reunion. This year it was the tropical setting of Costa Del Sol.

"Hey Yuffie, you ready to hit the beach?" a familiar female voice said. It was none other than the martial artists, Tifa Lockheart. She gave Yuffie a closed lipped smile as the young ninja came into view.

"You know it!," she said returning the smile. Tifa let out a small laugh before she returned to what she was doing.

Looking around she surveyed the attendance on the ship. She lowered her voice to a volume only she could hear. "Tifa…Barret…RedXIII…Vincent…Cid…duh Yuffie…of course Cid is here! Who would've flown the ship? And even Reeve is here…" she whispered to herself. _"Even Reeve is here! In his own flesh and blood! Looks like he ditched the robotics today…"_ She mentally kicked herself for her previous stupidity and continued to search the ship. There was one person missing…a certain blonde warrior. She walked forward slowly, her sprits damped slightly, although her feelings did not show on her face. In the background she could hear her comrade's conversation, although they were not the focus of her mind.

"I'll tell you one thing, I'm not wearing that damn white marshmallow suit," Barret said crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Barret, no one's forcing you to wear it. And it's not a marshmallow suit, it's a sailors outfit. Besides I thought it looked kind of cute on you," Tifa said sarcastically followed by laughter. This was responded by a rough grunt from Barret.

"I ain't wearing that shit, that's all I gotta say,"

"Will you two quit your yapping for a minute?! We're fucking already here! Damn! When I get on the beach I better not hear on word outta you two!" Cid said with his cigarette in his mouth.

Once Yuffie had surveyed the front of the bridge she was about to give up hopes. She turned around to her arguing friends. "Where's Cloud?" she asked as she immediately turned around. Her voice sounded light against the hard voices of the two arguing. This in return granted her confused stares. Since when did Yuffie ask about Cloud?

Yuffie had started to care about Cloud ever since that day one year ago. That year ago when she was in Edge, the replica city of Midgar.

* * *

_**Flashback **_

"Twenty two…twenty three…twenty four…" Yuffie counted her colorful orbs before placing them in the metal lock box. A mischievous giggle left her lips as she finished counting and put down her last materia sphere inside the container. With a small snap of the lid, she locked the chest and hugged it tightly to her stomach. Who knew that Edge would be a materia hunter's dream comes true? With large crowds in the city it was easy to swipe a matera here and there from the numerous stores.

Her eyes shifted around the streets of Edge suspiciously. Her hands clutched the her precious materia treasure like a little child with its candy. There was no way she would be able to carry this large box, along with her other packages back to Wutai. She was only in Midgar for a few days running errands for her father. Being busy she hadn't really gotten a chance to see Tifa and Cloud. By now Yuffie knew that those two were living together. They were also living together with two children…Marlene and another little boy named Denzel.

With her free hand she reached into her pocket. She pulled out her dark blue phone with a small chocobo keychain. She pressed speed dial three and the name 'Cloud' appeared on the screen of her phone. As she had suspected she had gotten his answer machine.

"Hey! It's me! Yuffie! I know you're there…you're probably going to listen to this right after I hang up the phone. I have something really important to ask you. Will you give me a call back? …." The girl fell silent for a moment. "You know if you don't call me back I'm just gonna keep on calling…and calling…and calling and calling!" With that Yuffie shut her blue phone and stuffed it back in pockets.

She dangled her feet of the edge of the ledge, still holding her treasure protectively. A few minutes later, just as she suspected she heard her phone ringing. Flipping open her phone, she looked at the finger printed screen. A happy smile emerged as she saw the name 'Cloud'

"Hey Cloud!" she said into the phone.

"Yuffie?" he responded in a low voice. His tone was calm and collected, the opposite of the girl on the other line.

She let out a small laugh before answering. "So you figured you might as well have called me huh? Wise decision Spikes! You know I really would have called and called and called and ca-"

"Yuffie I'm hanging up," he said cutting her off from her ranting.

"No no no! Wait! I'm sorry! I really need you're help! Hello? Cloud? Are you there?" she yelled in the phone.

On the other side Cloud held the phone slightly adjacent to his ear. A heavy somewhat annoyed sigh left the blonde's lips. "Yes…Yuffie. I'm still here. Now what do you want?"

"Well uh…I kind of have this…box…filled with…stuff…" The young girl paused for a moment to track her words. "I have to get back to Wutai today, and I can carry it with all the stuff I have, so can I just leave it with you for a few days?"

"No," he simply said.

Yuffie blinked somewhat shocked by his blunt response. "What why? Wait…are you serious?"

"Yuffie I have to go…"

"Wait wait! Cloud please! It's really important to me…" she said in desperation. There was no way that she was going to throw away all this materia. The girl held her breath as she heard only silence from the other line.

"Yuffie-"

"Cloud please!!!!! Please Cloud please!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. This caused a few strange glances from the people walking by. She narrowed her eyes as she gave the towns people a death glare, which made them proceed along with their day.

Cloud contemplated the consequences of his decision if he would accept. He let out another heavy sigh knowing that Yuffie would not quit pestering him unless he gave the teenager what she wanted.

"Fine..."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!" she said all in one breath.

"Meet me now, at The Seventh Heaven."

With that Yuffie heard him hang up the phone. With that Yuffie jumped off the ledge for joy. With the metal box still in her hand she ran through the streets of Edge. Weaving through the crowd of people, it was a miracle that she hadn't bumped and tackled someone to the ground. It only took a few minutes to reach the bar, she knew all too well. Feeling at home she walked up the steps and inside.

"Hey! I'm here!" she announced as she opened the door. Her calls received no response.

"_Hm…I guess nobody's home…don't mind if I take a look around…" _she thought mischievously.

The Wutai native made her way towards the counter and had placed the box down. She looked around the abandoned business taking a look at the numerous liquor bottles behind the bar. Curiosity overwhelming her she grabbed on of the wooden stools taking it behind the counter. Putting down the chair she felt that one of the legs were shorter than the other three, making the stool wobbly. _"Eh whatever…" _she thought. "_What are the chances of me falling?" _Stepping carefully atop the wooden chair she looked at the bottles on the very top.

It wasn't long until the sound of a familiar motorcycle filled her ears. A smile crept up on her face as she swung around the stool to face the entrance. She froze, although she didn't know why. Her face expression seemed to freeze as her mouth was slightly agape.

And there he was, he looked exactly the same. He had changed his attire, although it was somewhat similar to what he had used to wear. One unique feature of his outfit was the one sleeve draping over his arm.

Looking over his face he still had that boyish expression, but the demeanor of a SOILDER. Yuffie's eyes grazed to the curves of his face, to his intense blue make eyes, to his untamed spiky blonde hair. Her gaze slowly lowered to his eyes again, then following the curves of his cheeks down to his pink lips. She felt her cheeks get hot as she couldn't take her eyes of his lips.

And suddenly Cloud's lips parted as if he was speaking, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She just couldn't, couldn't stop staring.

"Yuffie!" Cloud said louder causing Yuffie's head to jerk up. He was wondering why she was behind the counter…on top of one of the stools...with one hand grazing the bottles of liquor on the very top. She looked up at Cloud with a bewildered look on her face. Her cheeks felt hot and she felt extremely weak. What had just happened?

"Yuffie are you alright?" he asked in a deep cooled voice.

"Huh?" she managed to stutter out. Her eyes hadn't left the swordsman's face and her mouth still had managed to stay open.

"Are you feeling alright?" Cloud asked her with a look mixed with confusion and worry. He shifted as he started to make his way over to her. The sound of his heavy boots hitting the wooden flooring filled her ears. She sat silent as she felt like she was hearing an echo as he got closer…and closer…and closer…until the echo stopped.

"Yuffie? You're really freaking me out," he said as he loomed over to her.

He looked up at the teenager before him as she looked down silently at him. She was much taller than him with the height of the stool. It was Cloud's turn to look. She too had changed her attire just like he had. She had traded her green mid-drift turtle neck for a black flower tank top that stopped short of her belly button. Her shirt was complimented with a unzipped vest, tanned shorts, and white laced up boots. His blue eyes looked at her up and down. Did Yuffie always look like this? It **had** been two years since he had seen her. But she looked older and more mature. But no, it wasn't that, something was different about her. He made eye contact with her dark brown almond eyes, and looked at her with an unblinking gaze.

It seemed like they stayed locked in that position for what seemed for hours, but was only a few seconds in reality.

_Don't stop…don't stop looking at me the way you do…the way you're staring at me right now… _

Once Cloud had realized what he was doing he quickly averted his gaze, blinking out of confusion. Yuffie too had snapped out whatever it was and returned to her normal self.

"Cloud! You're here!" she yelled too loudly. Cloud's head jerked to the Wutai native as her loud call grabbed his attention. The ninja wasn't even expecting for her voice to come out at the volume and had surprised herself.

"I'm right here Yuffie, you don't need to shout," he said in his borderline monotone voice.

The girl giggled slightly as she jumped off the stool. "Heh yeah sorry about that!"

"Yuffie get down from there."

The girl rolled her eyes and smiled. "Eh don't worry, I'm not breaking anything," she protested, but listened to his words. She shifted to jump down, but didn't expect the stool to stumble under her weight. The uneven stool buckled from the sudden movement, completely falling from underneath her.

Yuffie let out a small cry of distress as she closed her eyes. She prepared herself to come into a hard impact with the ground, but instead her fall was stopped short. The girl didn't even fall halfway before she felt something warm warp around her waist. She felt like she just fell atop a soft brick wall. Reluctantly opening her eyes she saw a dark shade of purple color. Once her mind had focused she felt the warmth around the bare skin of her mid-drift a strong arm holding her.

Looking up she saw Cloud looking down at her. He was so close…so close She had never been this close to him…except that one time. The one time she asked him to keep her company that night at the golden saucer. That was two years ago… That night she made a daring move to give Cloud a kiss on the cheek, and followed by a slap due to his stupidity. But that was different; there was no attraction, it was just something she wanted to do, just pure impulse. But now…this was different too…something different from impulse…

She could feel his hot breath brush against her cheeks. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she saw his mako eyes from up close. She felt the heat from his body rush upon her like being wrapped around a warm blanket.

_Don't let go…don't let me go… _

Her hands were crumpled in fists pressed against his chest, just like the rest of her body was being pressed against his. She felt his sleeveless arm wrapped around her. The skin from her bare mid-drift brushed against the bare skin on his arm.

_I like this feeling _

As he shifted she felt his arm caress the skin on the side of her stomach. Using his other arm he steadier her and held her until she had regained her balance. Once he saw that she was stable he had dropped his hands from her waist and looked at her with that same expression, like it was nothing.

When Yuffie was standing on the stool she was taller than Cloud. Now without the height of the stool, the raven haired girl stood at her full height, which wasn't very tall. She had to cock her head up to look at Cloud, who in turn bent his head down to see her. Cloud wasn't very tall, but he was definitely taller than her. The eighteen year old girl only came up to his chest, and full head shorter than him.

"_What…was that_? " she thought to herself_. "What is...this…what am I…what am I feeling?"_

"So?" he said breaking the silence.

That was enough lay way for Yuffie to break her out of her awkward thoughts. "Right! Cloud I need you to keep something for me."

"What?"

"Glad ya asked!" She scrambled to the front of the counter and grabbed her treasure box. Making her way back to Cloud she had a huge smile on her face, almost completely forgetting about the previous event. Her petite hands held out the large container to him.

He looked at the box then looked at her questioningly.

"Don't give me that look!" She said narrowing her eyes at him. She opened the box to reveal numerous colorful orbs of materia. "Keep this for me…until I get back?"

For Yuffie to give her materia willingly to someone was a rare event.

"You sure you want me to take this?" he asked almost asking if there was some kind of catch.

"Yeah, just until I get back. You better not let anyone touch it okay?" she said poking him in the chest which failed him make the man stumble even slightly.

Cloud looked at the box as Yuffie locked it again. He was pretty sure that she would be back for it in a couple of days anyways. He nodded as she handed to box to him.

"Sure," he said simply.

"Sure? That doesn't sound very convincing…" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You better promise not to let anyone else touch it okay?! Please yeah?!" she said looking up at him with. She almost sounded desperate, almost scared that someone would steal her materia.

Then the unthinkable happened. A rare event, more rare than Yuffie handing over her materia. Cloud's lips formed into a closed lipped smile as he let out somewhat scoffed laugh. He had never seen someone so desperate for matera besides the ninja before him. It was…almost cute…

"Yeah I promise," he said holding the box with his sleeved arm.

She jumped for joy and clapped her hands. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!" she said. Cloud nodded as Yuffie smiled up at him.

**End of Flashback**

* * *

"Cloud's not coming…" Tifa said calmly. "He had some deliveries to do, so he said he'll try to make it later." 

Yuffie couldn't believe it. There fearless leader wasn't coming? "But he always comes!? How can he not come!" she said loudly, a little louder than she had expected it to come out. "Eheh…I mean he should be here. I mean this is the only time all of us are together out of the **whole** year!"

"I know Yuffie, but you know Cloud," Tifa said shouldering her bag of belongings. Everyone followed Tifa's lead and started to pick up their packs.

"Yeah…royal pain in the ass…" she said rolling her eyes.

Why did she care so much? Since when did she start caring when Cloud came to these stupid reunions anyway? She shook her head mentally as she decided not to think of it. They were in Costa del Sol! She wasn't about someone's absence spoil her fun right? And she knew how to have fun – especially in a sunny-beach-tan resort. She was Yuffie Kisaragi! She was definitely going to have fun on the beach flirting with shirtless guys in her bikini!

_What are these feelings that I'm feeling…? _

"Aw c'mon Yuffie. Cheer up! What do ya say? Let's go hit the beach?" Tifa asked putting her hand on Yufife's shoulder.

"Hell yeah! This is Costa Del Sol! Let's get this party started!" she yelled as she was led out of the Sherra by Tifa. Despite her outer behavior she still couldn't shake the feeling inside her pit of her chest.

"Yeah… let's go have fun…" she said a little softer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. ****I do not own song lyrics - Beautiful by Lifehouse**

**Thank you everyone for the wonder reveiws! Now here is the last chapter...****Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

**Single White Rose of Wutai**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

_Flashback – hours before_

"What? Who are you and what have you done with the real Yuffie?" Tifa teased poking at her young friend.

The young girl just shook her head causing some droplets of water from the beach to splash on her teammates. "Just tired…I think I'm going to go back to the hotel," she said playing with the sand beneath her feet.

"Hey! Watch where you're shaking!" Cid said lighting a new cigarette. "Almost got my cigarette wet!" Yuffie just rolled her eyes at the pilot.

"Cid!" Tifa said as she whipped around to the older man. "Seriously can't you stop smoking for ONE day?"

Cid looked as if he stopped breathing for a moment as he turned his head to look at Tifa. "Stop smoking? STOP SMOKING? You gotta be kidding me! You kno……"

Yuffie didn't stay around long enough for Tifa and Cid's friendly banter. She knew that those two would always pick fights. If there was someone arguing on the Sherra that wasn't Yuffie against everyone, it was either Tifa and Barret or Tifa and Cid. The voices of the two had grown softer and softer until she couldn't hear them at all.

Back on the beach a certain martial artists had noticed that a certain ninja was missing. "Huh? Where did Yuffie go? Did she leave?" Tifa asked out loud.

Cid looked around also now noticing Yuffie's absence. "Eh she said she was going back to the hotel," he said taking another puff. "I dunno what's wrong with that girl today." With a wave of his hand Cid dismissed the subject from his mind.

"She was sure asking about Cloud a lot today…too bad he couldn't make it…"

_End of Flashback_

* * *

**_Finally here, won't stay too late.  
I want to feel you, I need to hear you.  
You are the light that's leading me to the place where I find peace,  
again. _**

Yuffie ruffled her short raven hair with her green towel. She had just finished getting dressed for bed, and was now drying her hair. Even though the clock only read 6:00pm there wasn't anything else she felt like doing today. "_Wow…it's not even that late_…" Her behavior had shocked her comrades when she had announced that she was going to bed.

She tossed the towel on the floor aimlessly as she went over to her nightstand. Looking out the window just over the head of her bed she reached for her phone. 'No Missed Calls.' A small almost depressed chuckle left her lips. Who was she expecting to call? It's not like anyone called her back anyways, and when they did it was only to tell her to stop calling their phone. Although in the back of her mind, she knew who she was thinking about, even if she didn't admit it to herself. "Heh…why do I care so much anyways?" she asked herself outloud, as if she was going to get an answer.

Still looking outside the window she saw that the sky was turning different shades of color. Dark Blue…purple…pink…it was almost as it someone had painted it. It almost made her feel…well in truth she didn't know what it made her feel. "_It's kindda pretty_…" she said idiotically to herself.

Still in her jammies she turned to head out the door. The cold air hit her damp pale skin. It wasn't freezing, but since it was almost night time the temperature had dropped a few degrees. The fact that she had just taken a shower, and her hair was still wet didn't help at all. Ignoring the cold she made her way across the beach, which was surprisingly empty. It seemed that most of the people had made their way insides either to the bars or house parties. There were only two of three couples still wandering the beach. All holding hands…all smiling and laughing happily…

For some reason Yuffie frowned. She felt something pinch her chest as she walked passed them to a secluded place: a medium sized rock formation projecting into the water. The climb up to the top wasn't that difficult for her, after all she **was** a ninja.

She sat down with her legs sprawled out in front of her. There was something unusual about her mood. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see her friends, she was, it was just that something in her heart was bugging her. Her mind wandered back to the day she gave Cloud her precious materia. What he said to her…how she felt his skin on hers…

She wanted to feel him again…she wanted to feel him again…

Then something unexpected happened, something that she didn't even know was coming, but when it did it hit her like a jumping in to cold water. A small tear fell down the curve of her cheek, down to her chin before falling down on to her hands folded in her lap.

A small expression of shock washed over her face. Half of her was almost expecting it, but the other half wasn't. Either way couldn't hide from herself the reason why she was crying.

"Dammit Cloud!!" she suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs, as if her heart couldn't take it anymore and it just needed to scream.It was if the words had some magical effect on her because afterwards she suddenly had burst in to tears. She couldn't hide the fact that she had feelings for him anymore. That she had always liked him, but he had never noticed. That she had always noticed him, but he had never seemed to care. The way that she always cared…

"G..G..God…I hate you! I hate you…" she barely managed to say between her sobs. All the emotion she had felt, and all the lies that she had told herself had suddenly turned on her. Yuffie had reached her breaking point. She didn't even care that she was crying in public or the fact she might look like a crazy person. Not that anyone would see her besides the few couples that were on the beach…and they were too preoccupied with each other to care.

She just wanted to cry because she believed Cloud would never love her back.

"I hate you…I hate you chocobo, spiky headed, emotionless, non-smiling, giving my materia away to bad guys, no calling me back unless it's to tell me not to call again **jerk**!!!" she out loud all in one breath.

**_You calm the storms, and you give me rest.  
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall_**

Her knees bent coming closer to her chest, as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She didn't even bother to wipe the tears. Her stomach started to hurt as her loud sobs turned into sharp inhales for breath.

"Why are you crying?"

Oh great….now a voice inside her head was talking to her. Yuffie sobbed some more thinking that she had officially become crazy. Now on top of being a cold and heartbroken she could put mentally unstable on her list.

"Yuffie…why are you crying.?"

Great…now the voice knew her name…well why wouldn't it – if the voice was in her head? "_Yep Yuffie…now you've lost it…" _she thought to herself. A loud form of distress in the sounds of crying came from Yuffie again. The second force of tears started to fall from Yuffie's eyes. She could even feel the heat from her tears as the streamed down her face.

"Yuffie…"

Suddenly she felt something press down on her shoulder. The sudden unexpected touch had startled the girl, as if an electrical shock as sent down her arm. She flinched at the person's touch not knowing who it was, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Whoever the person was - was still behind her with their hand on her shoulder.

It the next few seconds she heard the scuffling of footsteps as a blurry figure knelt down in front of her. She blinked trying to steady her vision through the tears. As she continued to blink she made out a male figure…blonde hair…blue eyes…no mako colored eyes.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth was still slightly open. And all of a sudden she realized that she wasn't crying anymore. "C..Cloud…?" she said as her voice failed her. He nodded briefly as he said her name.

She couldn't believe it. The one person…the one person that she wanted to be here…was finally here? Now she couldn't believe it…maybe this was just a mirage. Something that evil voice inside her head had made up.

Her non-blinking, tear stained eyes were staring into his unwavering mako colored gaze. He just knelt there, in front of her, not saying a word with his hand still on her shoulder. Without unraveling herself from the ball she was in, she reached her hand out. Her fingertips touched his chin and traced its way up his face. Cloud didn't move although his eyes shifted around, not sure of what to do.

She kept on tracing his face, until her hand found its way through his blonde hair. He **felt** real…Suddenly her index finger and thumb pinched down on one of his bangs and pulled it fiercely.

"OW!!!" Cloud yelled as he pulled his head back and snagged Yuffie's hand away from his face. With his free hand he rubbed the base of his forehead where she had pulled his hair. "What was that for!?" he asked furrowing his brow, as if he was hurt.

There was no mistaking it. The person in front of her was in fact Cloud Strife.

"Cloud!" Yuffie's whole face seemed to light up. She didn't even bother to claim her hand back from his, it was as if she didn't even seem to notice that they were holding hands. Either that or she didn't' mind holding hands with him. "Cloud! Cloud!" she exclaimed as that was the only word in her vocabulary.

"…" he just looked at her silently still rubbing his forehead.

Her eyes surveyed him as he looked at her with that same innocent expression. She didn't even care if he saw how happy she was that he was here. "I can't believe you came! Tifa said you had too many deliveries today! And I didn't think you were coming! And! And! WILL YOU QUIT THAT!" she yelled at him practically out of breath from her previous sentence. Her hand shot up to his hand that was continuously rubbing his forehead. He hadn't stopped ever since she pulled his hair.

"...Sorry," he said calmly in contrast to her over enthusiastic energy.

His eyes hadn't left her since he had knelt down to try to comfort her. She looked so sad just now, and she had yet to tell him why. He looked at her as she smiled up at him. She didn't have anymore tears but her face was still blotchy. Even through her appearance her smile still seemed to light up her face. The only other reaction that he could respond with was a genuine smile.

He didn't know why he couldn't stop staring, why his heart was beating faster, or why he didn't want to let go of her hand. Even after all this time they hadn't let go of each other. After his apology she still hadn't said anything, which made him shift uneasily again.

"…"

**_You steal my heart, and you take my breath away.  
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now._ **

"I can't believe…you're here…I thought you weren't coming," she finally said in normal volume.

He nodded as he finally let go of her, almost reluctantly. "Yeah, some people canceled on their deliveri-" Cloud didn't even have time to finish his sentence when he got the wind knocked out of him by a certain ninja.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Yuffie had jumped on Cloud and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He was slightly taken aback by her forward actions. He had only been close to her like this a couple times before, and each time he never knew what to do.

"Yuffie…you haven't told me why you were crying…"

She blinked for a moment as her cheek was pressed against his chest. She was so close to him that she could take his scent in. His question had caught her of guard. Would she really tell him the reason? Her head rose up to look at him for a moment as he tilted his head down to look at her. He raised an arm to return her hug, but her embrace was short lived and she didn't give Cloud any time to respond.

"I was crying because…" looking at him she tried to think of a good lie, but without warning to herself she just burst.

"Because you! You! You're a jerk! You never let anyone in! You only call to tell me not to call! You gave my materia away when you **promised** you wouldn't let anyone touch it! You don't' smile! You're late! You ride that damn motorcycle and you won't let anyone touch it! And! And!" She opened her eyes letting more tears fall. Half of what she was saying didn't make sense she was just starting to run out of things to say. "And you have stupid chocobo hair!!!" she yelled between her sobs.

A small clenched fist thumped on Cloud's chest. The impact didn't even phase or shake him and as he just sat there letting Yuffie's punch him. Yuffie hit him again but this time she buried her face into his chest, to hide the tears she was crying. She wasn't sure if they were tears of sadness or happiness, but either way she couldn't stop them.

He actually wasn't paying attention to half of what she was yelling at him, but he was paying attention to what she had first said. He had made her cry? Was it true that he really didn't let anyone in?

Abruptly she felt his arms wrap around her and bring her closer to him. His reaction made her intake a sharp breath and silenced her cries. She wasn't expecting him react the way he did, but she would be lying if she said she didn't like it.

"I'm sorry about your materia…" his deep voice said. Even though she wasn't look at him their faces were still close together. She could feel the heat from his breath on her ear.

"How could you say something…so stupid like that at a time like this…" she said smiling. The hand that was a fist against his chest relaxed it self. Her palm was not pressed up against his chest. Taking a deep breath she looked up at him to only find out that he was still staring at her. He hadn't taken her eyes of the young ninja ever since she jumped into his arms.

**_'Cause you're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything, everything _**

****

She could feel her heart getting lost as he stared back at her. There was only one thing she wanted. There was only one thing that she needed, and it was right in front of her. All she had to do was just reach out and take it.

With her arms still around his neck she stood on up to her full height. Her face slowly came closer and closer to his leaving a small gap between their lips. Even with their close proximity Cloud didn't even flinch slightly. Seeing this Yuffie suddenly closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his. As soon as their lips touched she felt the warmth of his lips, like something surging through her body. It wasn't like anything she felt before. Sure she had kissed guys before, but this was different.

Cloud's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose as he felt her lips still brushing against his. He couldn't believe it…his heart couldn't believe it…he Cloud Strife was kissing Yuffie Kisaragi. She was in his arms, while he was kissing her. Well actually he was just standing there while she was doing the kissing.

Her sudden movement and contact with his lips had caught him off guard. His eyes were still wide open as he looked at her eyelashes, and he saw that her eyes were closed. He acted like he had never kissed a girl before, as if he didn't know how to kiss. Well…that was partially true…but Yuffie didn't have to know that. But he did know that he wanted this too.

He tightened his embrace on her not caring if she felt how fast his heartbeat was. Finally Cloud closed mako his eyes and kissed Yuffie back.

**_Would you tell me 'How could it be, any better than this?' _**


End file.
